Romanians in the United Kingdom refers to
Romanian immigrants in the
United Kingdom, both citizens and non-citizens, along with
British citizens of
Romanian ancestry. The number of Romanian-born people resident in the UK has risen from 83,168 at the time of the
2011 United Kingdom census to 538,840 in
England and
Wales alone in 2021.
Romanians constitute the fourth largest group of immigrants in England and Wales as of 2021, only behind those from
Pakistan,
Poland, and
India. The decadal growth of 576% was the highest of any immigrant group and was driven by the relaxation of work restrictions.[1] Furthermore, as of late 2022, given the big rise of Romanian immigrants to the United Kingdom, the
Romanian language became the third most spoken foreign language in the UK after English and
Polish.[2]
History, population, and settlement
The small number of Romanians that first arrived in Britain were primarily
Jews fleeing persecution during the
Second World War.[3] The activities of the Romanian exiles started in 1941, through the effort of individuals such as Ambassador
Viorel Tilea, Major George Emil Iliescu, and legal counselor Ecaterina Iliescu. They founded the Anglo-Romanian Refugee Committee (ARRC) in 1948. The Free Romanian Orthodox Church was active in parallel to the ARRC between 1950 and 1955, under the leadership of Father Gildau, with a Parish Committee chaired by Mihai Carciog. This later transformed into the 'Romanian Orthodox Women's Association in the UK', which, in turn, became in 1956 the British-Romanian Association - also known under its Romanian name of ACARDA ("Asociația Culturală a Românilor din Anglia") - through the initiative of a representative group of individuals from the small Romanian community, including
Ion Rațiu, Horia Georgescu, George Ross, and Leonard Kirschen, Marie-Jeanne Livezeanu, Gladys Wilson, Sanda Cârciog, and Mihai Cârciog.[4][5]
Ion Rațiu was the President of the British-Romanian Association between 1965 and 1985,[6] followed by Iolanda Costide between 1985 and 1996.[7] Rațiu became honorary president of the organisation in 1985.[6]
At the time of the
2001 Census, 7,631 Romanian-born people were residing in the UK.[8] In the
2011 Census, the Romanian-born population grew to 83,168 people throughout the UK, with 79,687 in England and Wales,[9] 2,387 in Scotland,[10] and 1,094 in Northern Ireland.[11] The
Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that, in 2012, 101,000 Romanian-born people were resident in the UK.[12] By 2019, this estimate had risen to 427,000.[13] This estimate fell to 345,000 in 2020.[14]
The 2021 census recorded 530,320 Romanian-born people resident in England, 8,520 in Wales,[15] and 6,612 in Northern Ireland.[16]
As of 2021[update], approximately 1,350,640 Romanians had applied to the UK government's post-
BrexitEuropean Union Settlement Scheme, with 670,560 receiving pre-settled status and 435,720 receiving settled status.[17][18] However, the
ONS notes that not all applicants to the EUSS will be resident in the UK.[19]
A particularly concentrated community exists in the
Edgware-London suburb of
Burnt Oak which has gained the nickname "Little Romania".[20]. Large communities also exist in the London Boroughs of
Brent and
Newham.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
2001
7,631
—
2004
14,000
+83.5%
2005
17,000
+21.4%
2006
17,000
+0.0%
2007
24,000
+41.2%
2008
42,000
+75.0%
2009
59,000
+40.5%
2010
82,000
+39.0%
2011
83,168
+1.4%
2012
106,000
+27.5%
2013
136,000
+28.3%
2014
170,000
+25.0%
2015
220,000
+29.4%
2016
310,000
+40.9%
2017
390,000
+25.8%
2018
392,000
+0.5%
2019
427,000
+8.9%
2020
345,000
−19.2%
Note: Besides for
2001,
2011, and
2021 when a census of the population took place, figures are ONS estimates of the number of Romanian-born residents. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals. Source: [21]
Around 75 per cent of women trafficked to the UK are from Romania, with the majority being victims of sexual exploitation.[24] In October 2020, an online summit was held to discuss the problem. Ahead of the event, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on commercial sexual exploitation,
Dame Diana Johnson, argued that "The industrial-scale sexual exploitation of Romanian women by UK men is a national scandal".[25]
Romanians in the UK have faced discrimination and xenophobic abuse, and were targets of some hate crimes following the
Brexit referendum.[26] In the
autumn of 2019, the
Romanian government launched an advertising campaign to attract emigrants back to Romania, suggesting that a million jobs awaited them.[27] In October 2019, Minister of Labour and Social Justice (
Romanian: Ministrul Muncii și Justiției Sociale)[28] at the time Marius-Constantin Budăi told the
ITV that he wished for all
overseas Romanians to come home as soon as possible.[27]
^Leustean, Laurentiu (2009). Orthodoxy and the Cold War: Religion and Political Power in Romania, 1947-65 (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 245.
ISBN978-1-349-30411-0.